


Perfect Girl

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [55]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Panic Attacks, Red is a therapy dog, Therapy Dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 05:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11662560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Red was the perfect girl for Keith. She was protective, she was kind and best of all she helped Keith every single day. Especially on days where it was all too much.





	Perfect Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "And do you think you could do more chapters with young keith and red.  
> Like the other kids meeting red  
> them seeing red doing her job  
> Red getting between keith (and maybe the other kids) and a stranger   
> Or just more young keith and red in general because I really love those two."

               Red was the perfect dog for Keith.

               Honestly, she was the perfect friend for the small eight-year-old. She was more than just a family dog who would cuddle up with him, play fetch, eat and sleep all day. Red was Keith’s guardian, as much as Shiro was (though sometimes Shiro thought that Red saw herself as Keith’s _mother)_ and it was quite an endearing sight.

               Ever since Red’s adoption as a puppy, she and Keith were practically inseparable. In fact, the only times that they were separated were when Keith had to go to school. But sometimes Red came to school with Keith if he really needed her, or if Shiro felt that Keith would have a more positive learning experience with Red with him. It had taken a lot of paperwork and several people within Allura’s board to approve of Red, but eventually Red was allowed with Keith on days that he or Shiro felt were necessary.

               And oh boy, was Red a professional.

               She never allowed the other children or the strange and new locations of the school deter her from her job as Keith’s dog. She was just as attentive to him in a room full of rambunctious second graders as she was when they were alone in their house. She was always alerted when Keith would start to panic or become overwhelmed, she would alert a para if Keith was trying to say something important or if he needed space. She was never mean or threatening to _any_ of the other students or teachers.

               However, when a dog was involved with children, there were bound to be some rule breaking especially on the children’s side.

               Such as trying to pet Red all day, which led to lot’s more kids surrounding Keith on a daily basis. Although, they were more interested in the dog, it still made Keith a bit anxious (especially since few of them actually wanted to be Keith’s friend).

               Or sneaking Red pieces of food when Keith wasn’t looking. Keith couldn’t blame Red because above all else, she was a dog and dogs _loved_ people food.

               Or when the kids wanted to grab at Red’s harness and walk her around the playground, despite the harness still being in Keith’s hand.

               For a while, Keith kept quiet about these things that bothered him and luckily Red would often catch on to his somber mood and turn her attention away from any other beings. She would solely pay attention to her master, and no one else, in attempts to soothe him and bring a smile to her face. Usually this was enough to keep Keith happy but sometimes even that wasn’t enough.

               Sometimes it was too much for Keith.

               “Don’t give her food.” Keith muttered one day, after catching a girl trying to sneak her ham sandwich to Red. The girl with straight blonde hair frowned at Keith but ignored him and pressed the sandwich closer to Red’s sniffing nose. Of course Red was interested in the food, after all she loved ham and often tried to steal Shiro’s lunches when she was home, and Keith wasn’t in any distress.

               Gently, Keith tugged on Red’s harness and scratched the inside of his wrist. “Stop it. Don’t give her any food. She’s already had treats this morning. She’ll get sick otherwise.” Keith informed the girl again, just in case she hadn’t heard him the first time. This time the girl huffed and rolled her eyes. She then pressed the sandwich towards Red, who licked at the meat until Keith had pulled on her harness again. It was still gentle, and Red didn’t even budge but it was enough to flip a switch. Instantly, Red lost interest in the sandwich and turned her attention to Keith. Upon seeing his continuous scratching, she gently nosed at Keith’s wrist and Keith quickly stopped.

               The girl’s frown deepened when Red lost interest in her sandwich. She couldn’t even eat the sandwich because the cute dog had sniffed and licked it. _Gross._

               “That’s mean! Why would you pull on her? She’s probably so hungry!” The girl huffed and her friends immediately nodded in agreement. Keith nervously shifted in his seat, wishing more than ever that Lance and Pidge had been in his classroom this year. Unfortunately, the trio had all been separated into the three different second grade rooms, and Hunk was a third grader. Keith had been extremely lonely the first few weeks of school and had needed Red earlier than usual. Once Red had begun making an appearance, Keith had been pleased when several students finally sat next to him. He tried talking to them over and over, but soon his anxiety came rearing back when he realized that these kids were only sitting beside him because of Red.

               Not that Keith blamed Red. He never could.

               He loved Red, almost as much as he loved his daddy.

               Besides, it wasn’t Red’s fault that she was just so gosh darn cute.

               “She’ll get sick.” Keith said, licking his lips. “She had breakfast this morning and two treats, so she’s not hungry.” Keith started to scratch at his wrist, only to be stopped by Red putting her head in his lap. Quickly, Keith went to petting her, eyes trained down onto hers.

               “It’s lunchtime! She’s gotta be starving!” The girl dramatically said. While Keith continued to pet Red, he could see the girl trying to lean over and give Red the ham sandwich again. This time, Keith couldn’t stop the frown nor his annoyance.

               Before Red could sniff the sandwich, Keith had slapped the sandwich out of the girl’s hands and onto the floor.

               “Do you not understand me? What’s so hard about listening when I say not to give her food?” Keith huffed angrily. “I told you to stop, so you need to stop it!” Instantly, the girl shrieked loudly and stood up loudly, causing Keith to stand up out of nervousness. Red was quick to put herself between Red and the girl, eyeing the girl. Though, she never once growled at the young girl.

               Suddenly, Keith could feel his heart beginning to race when everyone turned to look at them and the girl’s friends started yelling alongside her. His fingers twitched at his sides and his throat tightened when everyone suddenly began yelling and the level of noise in the room exploded above normal.

               “Mrs. B! Mrs. B! Keith is being mean to me _and_ Red!”

               “I-I wasn’t mean.” Keith argued, tongue heavy and body stiffed. He could feel Red backing up into him but paid her no mind. All he could focus on was the yelling, and the noise and how everyone thought he was mean to _Red. To Red. Keith could never, ever be mean to Red._

               “She hit Lily and her sandwich is all dirty now!”

               “I – I didn’t! She – she let Red – she let Red lick it!” Keith argued weakly, but it seemed that no one was listening to Keith.

               “That’s awful! Why is Keith so mean?!”

               “Why does he get to bring a doggy and we can’t!”

               “It’s not fair, we never even get to pet the dog!”

               “Mrs. B! Mrs. B! Mrs. B!”

               Keith couldn’t even hear his teacher trying to calm the students down or a helping para. Instead, all he could do was curl in on himself. His entire body was trembling and his fingers were twitching at his sides, until one hand began to vigorously scratch at his entire arm. Keith stumbled back, away from the noise and while no one paid him any mind, it was Red who saw it all.

               She jumped into action, intervening as soon as she could. She pushed her entire snout and muzzle along Keith’s arm, gently biting at the hand that was scratching his arm raw. With an extremely gentle but firm grip, she attempted to pull Keith’s hand away from his arm when it had begun to bleed. While he was no longer scratching his arm until it bled, due to Red pulling the arm away, Keith had used the hand that was bleeding from being scratched, to grip his hair painfully. He shook his head several times before sniffling.

               Without letting go of Keith’s arm, she tugged firmly and led the boy away from all of the other children and adults. Keith willingly followed, as silent tears raced down his face and his shaking intensified. She led him out of the room and into a small corner section that connected the three classrooms together. All of the other doors were shut and the space was enclosed. Already, it was _much_ quieter than in the room but Keith was still in a mode of panic.

               After she had led her master to sit down in the corner of the area, she licked at his face several times and rubbed against his teary face. Keith hiccupped but his sobs became less forceful and calmer. Knowing that her master still needed more help, Red licked Keith’s face twice more before trotting back into the classroom. There were still some students crying and yelling but it was a bit calmer than before, and several students were confused as to why Red was coming back into their room and _where was Keith?_

               The para, a young woman known as Julia, frowned when Red immediately went to the closet without so much as looking at the rest of them. She pawed at the door several times and snuffed around the door, before eventually grabbing a hold of the handle with her mouth. With several pulls, the door was open and she was jumping onto her hind legs in front of the kid’s backpack. Julia began to make her way over to the dog, only to jump back when Red turned around and left the room.

               She had a familiar Red and purple backpack in her mouth and Julia couldn’t help but follow her out of the room. She kept her footsteps quiet as she entered the small common area, only to be astounded at the sight before her.

               Red was emptying Keith’s backpack all by herself, while Keith was still crying in the corner of the room. She had already pulled out a Red plush lion, which Keith was hugging as tightly as he could and was working on wrapping a well, worn blanket around Keith’s shoulders all by herself. Once Keith was covered, she went back into the backpack and pulled out a water bottle. All the while, she would stop what she was doing to lick and nudge at Keith’s wrist when one of Keith’s hands tried to scratch at it. A few times, she even licked his face and pushed her body right up against Keith until Keith would pet her with shaking hands.

               Turning around to see the chaotic classroom, Julia quietly shut the door and all of the noises were drowned out, leaving her in a room of silence with Keith and Red. Keith’s cries were finally quieting down and Red had turned to face her. She didn’t appear surprised to see Julia in the room and instead her tail wagged.

               “Hi girl, is everything okay?” Julia made her way over to the two, careful not to startle Keith. Quickly, Red had stuck her head back into the backpack and dug around for a few more seconds, until emerging. Her tail was still wagging but this time she had a laminated paper in her mouth and she walked over to Julia, presenting the paper to her and sitting down.

               Confused, Julia took the paper out of Red’s mouth. Red’s tail continued to wag and she sat for Julia for a few minutes longer before Julia finally looked down at the paper.

               _Takashi Shirogane._

_xxx-xxx-0009_

_If Red has presented this to you, it means that you should call me, Keith’s father! You can reach me on this phone number, as it is my emergency number. Thank you for keeping my son safe._

               Julia’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh. Oh. I should call his dad?” She felt silly talking to a dog, but when Red barked once before settling herself right next to her master to pet and cuddle, Julia took it as a sign to do what the _dog_ said. She then took out her cellphone and dialed the number, waiting for this Takashi to answer, all the while smiling upon seeing Keith beginning to calm down beside Red.

               “Hello? This is Takashi, who is calling?”

               “Takashi Shirogane? Would you happen to be Keith’s father and owner of Red?” Julia asked quietly. There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.

               “Yes. I’m Keith’s dad. Did something happen to him?” The man truly sounded worried for his son, as if he was seconds away from heading over here and Julia never felt more relieved. It was wonderful to know what a great family Keith came from.

               “My name is Julia, and I’m a para teacher aid in Keith’s classroom. I’ve worked with Keith several times before and we may have actually met before.” Julia explained and she could hear Shiro breathing stiffly on the other side of the phone. “There’s been a small incident in the classroom – Keith is safe, rest assured – but I believe he’s just experienced a panic attack.”

               “Is he okay?” Shiro finally asked.

               “He’s safe with Red. She managed to get him out of the room and into a safe corner with his blanket and what appears to be a stuffed lion.” Julia said. “A student was trying to feed Red and didn’t listen when Keith asked her to stop and there was some yelling and Keith was feeling crowded by all the noises and students around him. Thankfully Red has been nothing but helpful to him.”

               She could hear Shiro breathe a sigh of relief and he then chuckled. “That’s my good girl. How is Keith? Is his arm okay?” Julia assessed Keith’s arm noting that it didn’t look too bad, but it was still bleeding in a couple of places where he had scratched.

               “He’s bleeding – probably from scratching his arm too hard but it’s nothing too extensive. I’ll be taking him to the nurse to get cleaned up, but I think you might want to talk to him first. Something tells me that will make him happy.” Julia explained.

               “Okay, yeah. That sounds like a great idea.” Shiro said warmly and Julia beamed. “Thank you.”

               “Oh, don’t thank me, it was all Red who helped.” With that, Julia quietly knelt in front of Keith, waiting until he looked up at her with red eyes. Red was ever so watchful during the entire exchange.

               “Hi Keith. Are you feeling a bit better?” She asked and Keith’s lower lip trembled.

               “Scared. Tight. Tired.” Keith mumbled and Julia nodded sympathetically.

               “I bet. That was a scary situation.” Julia said. “You shouldn’t have hit Lily’s sandwich but, you didn’t do anything bad. She should have respected what you said and took her food away from Red. You had every right to say no to her. After all, you know Red better than anyone right?”

               Slowly, Keith nodded. “Dad too.”

               “Yeah, your dad knows her pretty well. She’s a super smart dog, isn’t she?” Julia was pleased when a tiny grin graced Keith’s lips before he nodded. “That’s why she got me a special piece of paper to call your daddy with, huh?”

               Keith’s eyes lit up and he suddenly saw the phone in her hand. Chuckling, Julia handed over the phone to Keith.

               “Daddy?” Keith asked, eyes lighting up again. Julia could hear Shiro speaking on the other side of the line but she couldn’t exactly make out what he was saying. “Scared. Sorry…didn’t mean to…okay. Yeah…”

               Julia sat back to give Keith some privacy with his dad, before glancing back at Red. She was by Keith’s side, as loyal as ever but she had turned her attention back to Julia for a second.

               Smiling Julia whispered, “You’re perfect for Keith, aren’t you girl?”

               As if she could understand, Red simply responded with a bark, before turning back to Keith. _She sure was perfect._


End file.
